On the blog today, we have a 1973 "Stars Retire" card featuring Pittsburgh Pirates great Bill Mazeroski and Los Angeles Dodgers speedster Maury Wills:
Mazeroski just wrapped up what would turn out to be a 17-year Hall of
Fame career, all with the Pirates, that saw him bring home two world
championships, one of which he literally won himself on a dramatic
series-ending home run against the heavily favored New York Yankees in
1960, and that had him be declared one of the best defensive second
basemen the game ever saw.
He topped 2000 hits, took home eight Gold Gloves, and became an instant hero in Pittsburgh after his 1960 heroics in the World Series, all leading to his place in Cooperstown.
Mazeroski turned to coaching right after his career as a player ended, and eventually would become a “special infield instructor” for the Pirates every Spring training to this very day.
He topped 2000 hits, took home eight Gold Gloves, and became an instant hero in Pittsburgh after his 1960 heroics in the World Series, all leading to his place in Cooperstown.
Mazeroski turned to coaching right after his career as a player ended, and eventually would become a “special infield instructor” for the Pirates every Spring training to this very day.
Wills closed out an excellent 14-year career, appearing in 71 games for
the Los Angeles Dodgers, batting .129 with 17 hits over 132 at-bats with
16 runs scored.
It was a sharp drop-off for the shortstop since he had a very productive season the year before, batting .281 with 73 runs scored and 15 stolen bases along with 169 hits as a 38-year-old.
Of course the pinnacle of his career is the 1962 season where he took home the National league MVP Award after setting the new single-season stolen base record with 104 while collecting 208 hits and 130 runs scored for the Dodgers.
This was right in the middle of a six-year run of leading the league in stolen bases, while also appearing in five all-star games and taking home a couple of Gold Glove Awards.
Overall he retired with a .281 batting average based on 2134 hits in 7588 at-bats with 586 stolen bases and 1067 runs scored in 1942 games.
Two great stars that closed out wonderful Big League careers in 1972!
It was a sharp drop-off for the shortstop since he had a very productive season the year before, batting .281 with 73 runs scored and 15 stolen bases along with 169 hits as a 38-year-old.
Of course the pinnacle of his career is the 1962 season where he took home the National league MVP Award after setting the new single-season stolen base record with 104 while collecting 208 hits and 130 runs scored for the Dodgers.
This was right in the middle of a six-year run of leading the league in stolen bases, while also appearing in five all-star games and taking home a couple of Gold Glove Awards.
Overall he retired with a .281 batting average based on 2134 hits in 7588 at-bats with 586 stolen bases and 1067 runs scored in 1942 games.
